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US intel official warns against toppling Hamas
Times of Israel ^ | 7/27/2014 | Lazar Berman

Posted on 07/27/2014 2:41:29 AM PDT by markomalley

Speaking at a high-level security conference in Aspen, Colorado, outgoing US Defense Intelligence Agency head Michael Flynn warned against the dangers of toppling Hamas, saying what may replace the Islamist group could be even worse.

“If Hamas were destroyed and gone, we would probably end up with something much worse. The region would end up with something much worse,” Flynn, a lieutenant general, told the conference Saturday, according to Reuters.

He warned that with Hamas out of the picture, the Islamic State, or something like the brutal Islamist group ruling over parts of Syria and Iraq, could take its place.

Flynn also said that he was pessimistic about the Middle East’s future. “Is there going to be a peace in the Middle East? Not in my lifetime,” he said.

In June, Egypt arrested 15 men it said belonged to the Islamic State as they crossed from Rafah into the Sinai Peninsula. In addition, videos have emerged on YouTube showing masked men pledging allegiance to IS and firing rockets at Israel.

Hamas denies the presence of IS members in the Gaza Strip.

The number of Palestinians killed reached 1,047 in 19 days of fighting, while more than 6,000 wounded, Hamas health officials said. Forty-three Israeli soldiers and three civilians have also been killed.


TOPICS: Egypt; Extended News; Government; Israel; Russia; Syria; US: Colorado; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: aspen; colorado; dhimmitude; egypt; gaza; hamas; iran; israel; jordan; lebanon; michaelflynn; rop; russia; sinai; syria; turkey; ukraine; waronterror; wot
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To: markomalley

oh my....can you imagine if ISLAM was eradicated from the world....then everyone would actually true peace - equality - and education flourish!

but if saving little man Hamas is such a great concern...then many more innocent lives will be allowed to suffer under Islam!


21 posted on 07/27/2014 5:10:57 AM PDT by BCW (Amazon Books: "Babylon's Covert War" - the Iraq conflict explained in detail - by JH White)
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To: markomalley

The slope of the killed curve should be increased to at least 100 per day. A mere 55 per day is not going to get the job done before the cease fire whiners get their way.


22 posted on 07/27/2014 5:13:21 AM PDT by bert ((K.E.; N.P.; GOPc.;+12 ..... Obama is public enemy #1)
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To: Tainan

ping the blog (IDF SITREPS)


23 posted on 07/27/2014 5:13:37 AM PDT by BCW (Amazon Books: "Babylon's Covert War" - the Iraq conflict explained in detail - by JH White)
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To: markomalley

“If Hamas were destroyed and gone, we would probably end up with something much worse. The region would end up with something much worse,” Flynn, a lieutenant general,”

So, wipe them out too, and the next one and so on.


24 posted on 07/27/2014 5:13:54 AM PDT by Slambat
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To: markomalley

Bottom line: The Palestinians are the problem.


25 posted on 07/27/2014 5:16:31 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: Tainan
From the blog...very informative

Sunday, July 27

10:12 AM: Due to Hamas’ incessant rocket fire during the humanitarian window, we are renewing our aerial, naval and ground activity in Gaza.

8:30 AM: 7 rockets were fired from Gaza. Iron Dome intercepted 2 and 5 hit southern Israel.

7:20 AM: Sgt. First Class (res.) Barak Refael Degorker, 27, was killed overnight by mortar fire from Gaza. May his memory be a blessing.

6:38 AM: Since midnight, 3 rockets fired from Gaza hit southern Israel.

2:10 AM: Hamas has fired more than 2,450 rockets at Israel since Operation Protective Edge began.

12:27 AM: Cpt. Liad Lavi, 22 and Chief Warrant Officer Rami Chalon, 39, both injured in battle, died of their wounds today. May their memory be blessed.

Earlier today, a car at the Beitar checkpoint, near Jerusalem, refused to stop. We searched it & found explosives, gas tanks & a switch.

— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 27, 2014

26 posted on 07/27/2014 5:27:38 AM PDT by mac_truck ( Aide toi et dieu t aidera)
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To: markomalley

bfl


27 posted on 07/27/2014 5:32:17 AM PDT by BlatherNaut
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To: markomalley
Notice he said “probably”.

Gaza is run by Hamas - muslim terrorists. The US is in a declared war against terrorism.

Yet, by this government bureaucrat, we should not destroy a terrorist group for fear that another, much worse terrorist group MIGHT gain control?

Wouldn't that “logic” apply equally to ALL terrorist groups, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, etc., meaning we should never kill a terrorist to avoid what MIGHT come after? Never stand up to a bully nor confront a criminal for fear they MIGHT hit back? Same wrongheaded thinking.

The reason ISIS is such a terrible terrorist group, one to be feared, is that Obama refuses to do anything about it. An air campaign could quickly reduce ISIS to smoking corpses in both Iraq & Syria, just as we did to Saddam's forces.

And how is one group of murderous terrorists to be feared far more than another? Are Hamas' many victims somehow less horrific than those of ISIS? Does anyone doubt that Hamas would kill every last Israeli, just as ISIS is murdering Christians?

How did this coward get into the military?

28 posted on 07/27/2014 5:33:19 AM PDT by Mister Da (The mark of a wise man is not what he knows, but what he knows he doesn't know!)
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To: markomalley

I’ll rely on Israel’s intelligence to make the right choice. I don’t trust ours in this case.


29 posted on 07/27/2014 5:37:01 AM PDT by McGruff (We can't even secure our border never mind Ukraine's.)
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To: rodguy911
Not stemming ISIS when they were weak in Syria and again in Iraq was done on purpose by our regime since they are Sunni/MB sympathizers as well.

You're on to it. The Mahdi got into Harvard Law and had his education there paid for by the Saudis, who are Sunnis and Whabists, from whence comes the Muslim Brotherhood and all the evil it has wrought. Note how careful he is to keep all his academic records concealed, especially including the financial records and records of how he got into each of the educational institutions he attended.

30 posted on 07/27/2014 5:43:50 AM PDT by libstripper
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>> saying what may replace the Islamist group could be even worse.

Such as ISIS that’s been permitted to flourish?


31 posted on 07/27/2014 5:45:51 AM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: markomalley
“If Hamas were destroyed and gone, we would probably end up with something much worse.

Then Hamas has won. The have conquered. It will be a mopping up action from here on.

No. It is a matter of resolve.

32 posted on 07/27/2014 6:46:15 AM PDT by VRW Conspirator (The next DNC convention will be spoken in Spanish; Press 1 for English)
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To: markomalley

I imagine some hand-wringer in WWII probably said something similar -

“we can’t get rid of Hitler and the Nazis, because something worse will just take their place”


33 posted on 07/27/2014 6:58:06 AM PDT by canuck_conservative
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To: canuck_conservative

Hell isn’t full yet by no means! Destroy em all now, leave no stone unturned!


34 posted on 07/27/2014 7:06:02 AM PDT by DocJhn
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To: markomalley

This is as shortsighted as allowing ISIS to have a permanent state, or Jimmy Carter’s allowing the mad mullahs of Iran to come to power and to stay there. We should not be the world’s policeman, but we also must not allow freedom’s enemies to succeed in their unrelenting fight against free and open societies. Obama can be a patsy on his own time, but he should not be one as the president of the USA.


35 posted on 07/27/2014 7:12:45 AM PDT by elhombrelibre (Against Obama. Against Putin. Pro-freedom. Pro-US Constitution.)
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

Could be, but that's Israel's decision. Besides, I though this was the Arab spring, new governments are a good thing.

36 posted on 07/27/2014 7:14:25 AM PDT by SJackson (government tampers with a freedom so fundamental, one shudders to think what lies ahead. Card Dolan)
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To: Netz

This ‘intel’ quisling was in favor of the Arab Spring, right.

Little purple fingers showing us the common people had voted? Yeah, that worked... Thanks US ‘intelligence’...score one for the idiot team.

Benjamin Netanyahu knows what’s best for Israel. He’ll do just fine without our lame advice.

If Cuba was lobbing missiles into Miami this “US intel Official” would NOT be suggesting we learn to put up with the deaths because the next group might be worse... What an effing idiot.

Bullsh*t. Total bullsh*t.


37 posted on 07/27/2014 7:21:48 AM PDT by GOPJ (To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize-Voltaire)
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To: markomalley

If you need to get rid of Hamas, make a plan to replace Hamas, and have a backup.

Off the cuff, I’d say that Fatah would be easiest replacement option, and Israeli administration could be the backup.

I any event, Gaza should be demilitarized, open to intelligence monitoring, and the media and education should be subject to censorship of hate speech, while new political entities are allowed to form. The political part may not bear much fruit for a decade or a generation, but security would be immensely better.


38 posted on 07/27/2014 9:28:15 AM PDT by BeauBo
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To: markomalley

Kill Muslims, then this will not be an issue. Return them to colonial status. At least destroy the virulent strain...


39 posted on 07/27/2014 9:56:49 AM PDT by WriteOn (Truth)
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To: markomalley; AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ..

> Flynn disparaged Hamas for exhausting finite resources and know-how to build tunnels that have helped them inflict record casualties on Israelis.

( http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Destroy-Hamas-Something-worse-would-follow-Pentagon-intel-chief-says-369030 )

IOW, he’s either carrying water for them — look, they used up a lot of resources to build tunnels which, okay, yes, helped them inflict record casualties, but they still are getting the brunt of the war — or, he’s bucking for a job as a military adviser to Hamas, to show them how to be more effective.

The destruction of Hamas could only lead to something worse if that something worse had nuclear weapons, IOW, Iran.


40 posted on 07/27/2014 12:47:05 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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